Device for conveying sounds to moving-picture screens.



H. C. FENTRESS. V

DEVICE FOR CONVEYING sounos T0 MOVING PICTURE SCREENS. APPLICATION FILED MAY 25. l9l6.

1,27 6,198. PatentedAug. 20,1918.

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gwuc MT 01 nanny craziness, or ALTON, ILLINOIS.

DEVICE IfOB GONV-EYING SOUNDS TO MOVING-PICTURE SCREENS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed Kay 25, 1916. Serial No. 99,821.

To all whom it may concern:

Be .it known that-l, HENRY C. F ENTRESS, a citizen of the United.States, residing at Alton, in the county of Madison, State of Illinois,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Devices forConveying Sounds to MovingrPictu're Screens; and I do hereby declare thefollowing to be a full,

'- clear, and exact description of the invention,

musical instruments may be carried to' mow. ingpicture machines so thatit will appear to the audience that the sounds are roducleld on t e theaudience but so that such as will enable others skilled in the art towhich 'it appertains' to makeand use the same. v

This invention relates to a device for con-.- veying sounds'to a movingpicture screen.

' An object of the invention resides in the provision of a device bymeans of which sounds such as voices or those produced by by the playerswho are depi screen. Y j

A further object of the invention resides in the provision of aconstruction of this character so that' the persons producing the soundsmaybe disposed out of the si ht, of they "can 0 serve the 'screen.

With these and other objects in view, such as will appear as mydescription pro-,

gresses, my invention comprises the com bination and arrangement ofparts as set forth in and falling within the scope of the ap endedclaim.

.the drawing:

a device constructed in accordance with my invention;

Fig.3isaplanview,a.ndf Fig; 4 is a detail showing the arrangement behindthe screen.

In the drawing, I have illustrated,- di'agrammatically, a moving picturetheater whichinclu-des an inclosure .1 inwhich the moving pictureprojecting machine 2 is mounted and an assembly room 3 for the audience.The rear portion of this room is covered by a sub-ceiling 4. and theforward portion by a platform 5 which is arranged.

below the plane of the sub-ceiling. This sub-ceilin 4- and the platform5 are both arranged low the main ceiling 6 and the edges of thesub-ceiling and platform lie in substantial alinement with each otherleavthe variation of Figure 1 is a sectional view taken through ;.7.. So that their voices wil ing a space 7 therebetween. The screen 8 isarranged remote from the projecting machine 2 and a space 9 lies betweenthis screen and a wall 10. A plurality'of tubes ll-extend from the space12 between the ceiling .6 and the platform 5 and thence over thesub-ceiling 4. At the front end of this subceilin the tubes turndownwardly and. extend tween thescreen 8 and the wall .10, as at 13.Thus when a sound is produced in the space 12 it will be carried by the'tubes and will reach the room 3 by way of the screen. a I v In orderthat these sounds may be carried directly to the screen and preventedfrom entering the room 3 through thespace 7, I

have .provided the ends of certain of the fit tig fly around the arms ofthe operator and consequently the sound will all be transmitted throughthe tubes to the screen. The form of. these mouth pieces and sacks maybe changed at-will and I contemplate also the size of these members asthe necessityarises. I

In operation a party of operators will as- I g semble upon the platform5 and as the ic- Fig. 2 is a detail of the sound receivers; will producesounds directly into the mouth tures are projected upon the screen 8 tey pieces 14 and the sacks 15 so that the sounds will be transmitted tothe screen and it will appear to the audience that they are produced bythe players depicted on the screen. It 'is to be noted that the operatorwill have full view of the screen b way'of the space. l be timedwith theactionof the players on the screen. Inthis manner the pictures willappear to talk.

-While'I haveillu's trated and described a particular embodiment of myinvention, it has merely been for the sake of convenience and I do notwish to be limited-to that par- Patented Aug. 20, 1918..

ticular embodiment as it is obvious that nuof construetien withoutdeparting from the spirit at the invention OK' exeeeeling the scopeofthe eppenfied claim;

What I claim :ls:--

A structure of the class cleserlhed ineluding a room having a. mainceiling and eppo-.

the sub-ceiling and extending from the well 7 eppoeite to the screen andterminating helew I Lemme the free edge of the sub-.eeiling, the freeedges of the Shh-ceiling and platform being s aceel apartso 'as toprovide a view between t e same from above the platform to the screen,and 'means supported between the ceiling anti sub-ceiling for conductingsouncl from the space above the platform to the space between the screenandadjacent well.

In testimony whereof, l efix my signature, in the presence of twowitnesses.

4 HENRY G. FENTRESS. Witnesses:

JAMns J, MULLEN, E. A. BURKE,

